Chair seat and process of making same



June 22 1926.

' H. P. UPHAM CHAIR SEAT AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME Filed Oct. 27. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 ait??? 7 212;

Patented June 22, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARLIN P. 'UPHAM, OIE GREENVILLE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

CHAIR SEAT AND PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

Application filed October 27, 1923. Serial No. 671,197.

My present invention relates to seats, and more particularly to an improved chair seat and the process of makingsame.

Heretofore in making chair seats or slip seats adapted to be permanently or re niovably secured in a seat or chair frame, it has been usual to provide a seat bottom and secure to one side of said seat bottom a padding by means of a covering material,

such as leather, artificial leather, fabric, or the like, and this covering material was drawn over the edges of the seat board and tacked to the under side of such board. This method of manufacture was a slow, handwork operation,was impossible for uniform results and was expensive, requiring highly skilled labor. Further objections were that the covering material was bunched at the corners, there was constant wear on the under edges of the bottom board and within a very short time the covering material was worn through and necessitated the entire replacing of theseat. Moreover, great deal of material was used as that portion of the covering material folded around and under the edges of the board was wasted. In the attempt to remedy the objectionable features of prior structures, it

has been proposed at various times to secure the edges of the, covering material to a binding strip, but such attempts have been only partially successful and in no instance of which applicant is aware has a successful commercial chair seat been produced.

In my present invention I have obviated the objectionable features of prior devices of this character and have produced a slip seat in which I am able to produce a saving of approximately thirty per cent of the covering-material heretofore considered necessary and have also produced a seat in which the folded edge of the material at the top of the chair seat protrudes outward from'the bottom board OTIbEISB to form a finishing edge or bead, which finishing edge or head acts, when the seatis either permanently or removably secured in a chair frame, to prevent access of dirt or dust which, in prior structures, has rendered a chair with a slip seat unsightly. Further, my improved seat is provided with corners'nea'tly turned, and which, in addition to presenting a pleasing appearance to the eye, form a corner in which the covering material is firmly and solidly secured to the seat bottom. Further, the improved means for holding the edges of the covering material in position are so constructed and arranged as to eliminate the heretofore sharp cutting edge seemingly nherent in this type of fastening device.

In constructing a seat embodying my present invention, I employ an entirely new and novel process of manufacture in which the edges of the covering material are securely attached to an enclosing strip that surrounds the peripheral edge of the bot tom of the seat and in which the enclosing strip is firmly secured to the peripheral of the seat. Inpracticing my improved process and in constructing the improved slip seat, I may fold over on each other the contacting ends of the enclosing'strip and secure such ends together and to the peripheral edge of the bottom by either fastening nails or tacks or by displacement of a 'portion' of the overlappingedges themselves or I may, if I so desire, butt the ends of the encircling strip and electrically weld" such butting edges together. Either method of attachment is within the scope of m invention and I do not wish to be limited to any particular form thereof.

In the accompanyingdrawings illustrating the various steps in the process of manu-' facture of my improved upholstered slip seat and a mechanism by means of which the improved process of manufacturing the same may becarried out,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a building frame in which a slip seat is positioned;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and showing the material forming the slip seat in position before pressure is applied;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional elevation showing the same construction as in Fig. 2, but after pressure is applied'to the work and before the operation of securing the encircling strip to the bottom takes place; I

Fig. 4: is a view similar to Fig. 3, but after the operation of securing the encircling strip to the bottom;

Fig. 5 is a detail showing a fragment of the encirclin strip and the manner in which the same is cut to receive the edge of the covering material;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the bottom of a completed slip seat, and

Fig. 7 is a front elevation, partly in section, showing a completed seat.

In the description of my improved slip seat, the structure thereof will be described in connection with the process of making the same and in connection with one embodiment of a device by means of which such improved process may be carried out.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a platen of a ress to the top face of which is secured a 10ll0W rectangular frame 11 provided at various pointsabout its periphery with outwardly extending lugs 12, each of these lugs being drilled longitudinally at 18 and in each of these drilled portions 13 is slidably mounted a plunger 1 1, the inner end 15 of each of which is pointed. The inner periphery of the member 11 is provided with a led e or seat 16 in which is adapted to seat a sheet of covering material 17 and the peripheral edge'of the sheet of covering material 17 is fitted into a groove 18 formed in one edge of a strip 19 of metal or other suitable material. This groove 18 is formed, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, by folding such strip in a U-shaped groove 20 with the extreme edge 21 folded back on the material. The peripheral edge of the covering material 17 fits into the groove 18 and that portion 21 above described being rounded at the point of its engagementwith the covering material 17 prevents cutting of such covering material at this point. As viewed in Fig. 2, the groove 18 is an open groove with the peripheral edge of the covering material 17 fitting therein. A rectangular frame of metal or other suitable material 22 is fitted inside the upstanding edge of the enclosing strip 19 and the lower edge of this rectangular frame is made thin andflexible, as shown at 23, while the upper inner faces of the rectangular frame are flared outwardly, as indicated at 2-1, to allow the ready insertion therein of the usual chair bottom 25. This chair bottom may be made of a single strip of wood or may be made of a plurality of strips of wood, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 6. Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be noted that'I have shown the engaging ends of the enclosing strip 19 as overlapping each other at 26 and I may secure the overlapping ends by riveting, soldering, or in any other suitable manner, and and it is to be understood that I may dispense with the overlapping ends 26 and butt the endsof the encirclingstrip 19 together and either leave the abutting ends ofthe encircling strip 19 secured or may butt weld or compress such ends together. Before the insertion in the flared end 2% of the rectangular frame of the seat bottom 25. the proper material 17 are forced downwardly into the 9 position shown in Fig. 3. The simultaneous downward movement of the rectangular frame 22 causes the groove 18 to be closed up, firmly gripping the peripheral edge of the covering material 17. Pressure being maintained on the bottom board 25. the rectangular frame 22 is moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4c and the various plungers 14. are struck smartly with a hai'nnier or other device whereupon the pointed ends 1.5 thereof puncture the encircling strip 19 and cause portions 31 thereof to puncture a suticientdistance into the bottom board to insure that the encircling strip 19 and all parts held thereby will be held firmly in position, as

shown in Fig. 4. The pressure isnow re moved from the bottom board 25. the plungers 14 withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 2 or 3, the completed seat removed frozn the platen 10 and the process above referred to is repeated on another seat.

The folded end 21 of the strip 19 extends laterally downward from the seat bottom 25 and with the covering material 17 thereon produces a protruding or finishing peripheral edge 32 on the completed seat which, when the completed seat is placed in position, actsas a finishing edge and prevents the ac cess and collection of dust between the seat frame and the seat itself. i

The covering material being out only enough larger than thesea't bottom 25 to engage in the groove 18, I am enabled to effect a saving of substantially thirty per cent of the covering material over what was necessary in prior constructions. In the finished slip seat, there are no ragged protruding edges of the" covering material, no tack's'to; pull out of the covering material and allow the same to getout of shape. While I have shown a specific device for practicing the improved process of manufactu'ringsli seats embodying my invention, yet it is to un-' derstood that I am not limited in the carrying out of this novel process to any part-ion lar form of device. Y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is: i

The improved process of making slip seats forchairs' and the like which consists in providing a strip of sheet material of a contour substantially that of the desired seat, forming a groove in-one edge thereof, providing a sheet of covering material, placing the peripheral edge of said sheet of covering material within the groove of the strip, placing the desired amount of padding on said covering material, forcing a seat bottom Within the strip of material and simultaneously compressing the paddingand closing the groove in the strip of sheet material and then seour- 10 ing the strip of sheet material to the edge of the seat bottom.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

I-IARLIN P. UPHAM. 

